De Ma Cuisine

Friday

9

September 2011

0

COMMENTS

Tomato-Basil Salad

Written by , Posted in Salads, Vegetables, Vegetarian

I know in most places, it’s starting to feel like fall. I hope we’re nearing that time too. Summer has been bearable, but the last few weeks have been really hot. I’m ready for soups and stews!

With that said, the basil in my apartment garden (more on apartment gardening another time) loves the heat. Of all the things I planted this year, it’s doing the best, by far! I’m OK with that. It’s one of my favorite tastes/smells, ever!

I have basil in abundance, and we have quite a few tomatoes from our Abundant Harvest Organics box, so I’ve been using them both a lot, in many creative ways.

My basil. I am in love.

Summer’s not quite over, so we’ll have a few more salads, maybe sneak in a couple soups here and there, and enjoy the basil and tomatoes while they’re in season.

Here’s one way we’ve enjoy them both.

Tomato-Basil Salad
Recipe Type: Salad
Author: Rachel Oberg – De Ma Cuisine
Prep time: 5 mins
Total time: 5 mins
Serves: 4
A delightful taste of summer.
Ingredients
  • 1/4 C Red wine vinegar
  • 1/4 C Extra virgin olive oil
  • salt
  • 1 large yellow tomato
  • 1 large red tomato
  • 1/4 C fresh basil leaves
Instructions
  1. Chop tomatoes and basil.
  2. Vinegar and salt in a bowl. Slowly pour oil in, while whisking (creating an emulsion).
  3. Add tomatoes and basil to bowl. Mix.
Notes

Would also be good with any of the following added: bacon, feta, mozarella, peaches, corn, zucchini etc.
**** (Our rating)

 

Thursday

8

September 2011

5

COMMENTS

Poor Man’s Roosevelt – Mushroom and Gruyère Flatbread

Written by , Posted in Baking, Cheese, Main Dishes, Pizza, Vegetables

Poor Man's Roosevelt

We have Pizza Fridays in our home. Even last Friday. Our oven broke, so I used the toaster and using a small baking dish did a stuffed mini pizza. So good! Pizza Fridays started when I was looking for the best pizza dough. I was going to make a different one each week and have a little competition. (Note: A few years later, I’m still searching for that perfect crust!)

A little over a month ago I thought it would be fun to try a flatbread pizza. The Roosevelt used to have an amazing Truffle Flatbread that I wanted to try to make at home. Oh man. Best idea ever! The first time we had it, we had to pause the movie so I could make a second one because it was so good! I wasn’t going to buy truffles (I mean, I want to, but a little pricy), so I used mushrooms, really thinly sliced. Just read the recipe, then try it, you won’t be sorry. Then try it with other toppings. It’s delightful! I can’t wait until tomorrow – Pizza Friday! Our oven is still broken. We’ll see what I come up with. But you, you can make this tonight, or have your own Pizza Friday!!

Happy Eating!

Poor Man’s Roosevelt
Recipe Type: Pizza
Author: Rachel Oberg – De Ma Cuisine
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 11 mins
Total time: 21 mins
Serves: 2
One word: Amazing.
Ingredients
  • Parmesan, grated
  • Gruyere cheese, grated
  • 1 t Olive oil
  • 5-10 mushrooms, thinly sliced (use more or less, depending on your preferences)
  • 1/2 t fresh oregano (opt.)
  • 1 t fresh rosemary (opt.)
  • salt (opt.)
  • 1 pizza dough
Instructions
  1. Lightly flour pizza stone and roll out dough super thin (we’re talking 1/4″ or less, maybe even 1/8″).
  2. Bake at 475F for 6 minutes.
  3. Remove from oven and top with: olive oil, salt, cheese (reserving a bit), oregano, rosemary, mushrooms, cheese.
  4. Bake 5 minutes, or until it’s lightly browned and cheese is melted.
  5. Delicious with champagne!
Notes

***** (Our rating)

 

Thursday

8

September 2011

8

COMMENTS

My Favorite Pizza Dough

Written by , Posted in Baking, Pizza

This is my favorite pizza dough, ever. I found it on this website ages ago (it’s since disappeared). I use this dough for any kind of pizza crust (thick, regular, thin, flatbread). I use it for quick cinnamon rolls and quick garlic breads. I often double or triple the recipe then freeze it in individual freezer bags. To defrost I leave the dough in the bag on the counter for a couple of hours, or putting it in a bowl of cold water.

Here it is, with my changes. I hope you try it!

My Favorite Pizza Dough  
Recipe Type: Pizza
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 12 mins
Total time: 22 mins
Ingredients
  • 3 C flour (can do 2 1/2 C All Purpose, 1/2 C Whole Wheat)
  • 1 t honey (heaping)
  • 1 t olive oil (heaping)
  • 1 C hot water (100-110F)
  • 1/2 t sugar
  • 1 T yeast
  • 1/2 t salt
Instructions
  1. Dissolve yeast in water with sugar.
  2. Mix flour, honey, oil and salt.
  3. Add yeast mixture.
  4. Mix all together.
  5. Knead a bit in the bowl (the original recipe doesn’t say anything about this. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t).
  6. Either let it rise (I don’t, and the original doesn’t say to), or just use it right away.
  7. I like to bake it on a baking stone, but a regular pan works well too. Bake at 475F.
  8. Depending on the type of pizza (usually for a flat bread pizza), sometimes I’ll bake the crust for 6 minutes, top it, then bake for about 5 more (until the cheese is bubbly). Otherwise, on a hot stone: bake for 8 minutes, on a regular pan: bake for 12 minutes.

 

Sunday

4

September 2011

2

COMMENTS

Equipping a Friend to Cook

Written by , Posted in Thoughts

Yesterday we had a cooking lesson at our apartment. Our good friend and I had talked about me showing him how to cook a few things. I’m not a pro, but I like to cook and it’s fun to share that with someone who wants to learn. Yesterday was the first class.

Our friend is a bachelor and doesn’t spend much time in the kitchen cooking for himself. So I thought up an easy menu that he could prepare.

Our menu included: Roast Beef, Mashed Potatoes and Homemade Gravy, Roasted Broccoli, Salad with Homemade Dressing, and Peach Crisp.

The Tri Tip Roast Beef was done in the Crock Pot. He boiled and mashed potatoes, adding the usual yummy ingredients to make them creamy. He learned how to make a rou to start the gravy, then whisked in the drippings from the roast. He chopped and roasted the broccoli with some olive oil, salt and pepper (in the toaster, because our oven is broken). We had a simple salad of romaine lettuce and heirloom tomatoes, with a homemade vinaigrette (that had been emulsified). For dessert, he chopped up some peaches, and made individual peach crisps with an oat, cinnamon, brown sugar topping. It was all delicious. And, he made it all himself! My job was simply to say what to do when, and how to do it. It was great! 

It was fun and empowering to show someone that they can cook a “fancy” meal! I’m looking forward to our next lesson!

(Update: the recipe for the roast can be found here.)

Friday

2

September 2011

1

COMMENTS

Welcome to De Ma Cuisine!

Written by , Posted in Thoughts

De Ma Cuisine means “from my kitchen”. It’s French. I love the French language and most of the content is from my kitchen. So, it works. 

De Ma Cuisine pronounced phonetically sounds like deh maa kwe-zeen. I’m planning to share recipes, tips, thoughts and maybe a photo or two. Basically, it’s a place to share what I love… I love to cook, and I love to plan menus. I also love to help people who don’t love those things. 

Although there are many posts already on here, this is my official launch post for De Ma Cuisine. The older recipes are ones I took from my old blog.

It’s been a couple months of working diligently on this website, and I’m finally ready for it to be viewed by the world… I think… gulp.

My work days have been filled with not much else but what feels like playing as I’ve been dreaming and constructing. I am learning as I go, and loving what I’m doing. I’m still in the middle of figuring out this whole blogger thing, this whole self-employed thing, this whole what-the-heck-do-I-want-to-do thing… and it’s… challenge, it’s inspiring, it’s pretty great.

I’ve been dying to present this space to the world, but have forced myself to wait until it was actually ready. I think it is, I think I can… here it is… Please enjoy!

– Rachel